Gas-burning furnace



A. L. STEVENS.

GAS BURNING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED 020.30. 1918.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

4 SHEETS-*SHEET I A. L. STEVENS.

GAS BURNING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.30.1918.

A. L. STEVENS.

GAS BURNING FURNACE.

APPLICATION HITED 05c. so. 1918.

1,856,56, Patented (M. 26, 1920.

A. L. STEVENS.

GAS BURNING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-30, 1918.

1,356,56. V Patented Oct. 26,1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

ARTHUR L. $TEVENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAS-BURNING FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

Application filed neeember 30,'191s.- Serial no. 269,007.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. STEVENS, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Burning Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to furnaces using gas as fuel, and its object is to prevent waste of fuel by providing the furnace with a regulating device by means of which the proper ratio of air to gas may be maintained for different volumes of the fuel. In the ordinary operation of furnaces of this type there is frequently very considerable waste of fuel due to excess of air over gas. Economical operation depends upon supplying just enough air to the heating chamber to support combustion. If air is supplied in excess of the proper ratio (which ratio will depend upon the character of the gas employed as fuel) the additional air will necessarily absorb some of the heat generated and the heat which is thus absorbed is therefore lost. My invention provides a simple and inexpensive device for regulating the quantities of gas and air supplied to the furnace. which device may be conveniently adjusted to vary the ratio of air to fuel as conditions may require.

The invention is illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, in the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a gas burning furnace provided with the air and gas regulating device of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view of'the gas and air valves and their common operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, but on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the parts shown,

in Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sectional views on lines 55 and 6-6, respectively of Fig. 2.,

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the regulating device of my invention employed in connection with a gas burning furnace of the regeneratlve type. The invention is not concerned with the construction of the furnace itself, except the parts thereof with which the air and gas regulating device cooperates. Therefore it will be suflicient to describe the furnace structurein a general way without going into all its details of construction. 10, i

10 indicate a gas supply pipe having branch pipes, on opposite sides of the furnace, leading to fines communicating with the heating chamber (not shown). One of these branch pipes is shown at 11 in Fig. 1. The flue into which it discharges is indicated at 12. The flow of the volume of gas supplied is controlled by a valve 13 to be hereinafter described. The air is supplied to the combustion chamber from an air supply pipe 14, 14 provided with a controlling valve 15. The air pipe also has two branches for opposite sides of the furnace, one being shown at 16. These branch pipes discharge into flues which communicate with the regenerators. 17 indicates one of these fines, 18 the corresponding regenerator and 19 a flue leading from the regenerator to the fine 12 above referred to. 20 and 21 indicate reversing valves in the gas and air pipes, respectively, which operate to direct the air and gas to one side or other of the furnace. The flues lTserve to discharge products of combustion to the stack 22, each flue having a slide valve 23 which closes the flue when receiving air from pipe 16 but is raised when through reverse operation of the furnace the gases are discharged from this side of the furnace. Valves 23, 23 are operated by a pulley 24 in conjunction with the reversing valves 20, 21.

My invention is concerned with the constructionand arrangement of valves 13 and 15 and the devices associated therewith for governing these valves simultaneously to properly proportion the supply of air and 216; preferably identical in construction, except gas to the furnace. These two valves are for their operating levers. It will be sufficient, therefore, to describe one of the valves, namely, the air valve 15. This device consists of two casing members 25, 26, secured together by bolts 27, a bonnet 28 closing one end of easing member 25 and a.

revoluble valve body 29 arranged between the casing members 25 and 26 on a spindle 30 which extends through the bonnet 28. The bonnet is provided with a recess 31 for packing 32 which is held in place by a cap 33 secured to the bonnet by screws 34. The casing member 25 has a neck to which the air pipe section 14 is secured. The other air pipe section 14 is secured to casing member 26. asing member 25 is formed with a diaphragm 36 having openings-37. The valve body 29 is provided with wings 38 large enough to cover the openings 37 as shown in Fig. 3. A coiled spring 39 is interposed between a washer 40 bearing against a shoulder 41 on the spindle and against a boss 42 formed on the diaphragm 36, this arrangement being for the purpose of keeping the valve body against the diaphragm to prevent leakage. Fixed to the end of the valve spindle is a lever 43 which is provided with a. graduated portion 44. The graduations from 1 towardthe spindle represent proportions of air to gas with the volume of air in excess of the volume of gas. The graduations. from -1 toward the other end of the lever represent proportions of air to gas with the volume of gas in excess of the volume of air. The spindle of the gas valve 13 is provided with a lever 45 without graduations but having a handle 46. Pivoted at 47 to lever 45 is a link 48 which is adapted to be pivotally connected with the lever 43 of the air valve at different points on the graduated scale 44. The device for making this connection is preferably constructed as follows: 49 is a bifurcated clamping member adapted to engage rod 48. The clamping lugs 50 of member 49 are drawn together by means of a nut '51 which engages a bolt 52 fixed in one of the clamping lugs and extending through the other, the nut being preferably provided with a handle 53. The clamp which engages the graduated portion 44 of the air valve lever 43 is composed of two members 54, 55 secured together at one end by a screw 56 and nut 57, the latter being provided with a handle 60, and at the other end by a screw 58 and nut 59. Riveted to member 54 is a stud 61 which extends through and forms a pivot for the member 49 which clamps link 48. The parts are held together by a pin 62 which bears against a washer 63 on the outside of member 49. Preferably a washer 64 is interposed between members 49 and 54. By the arrangement just described the point of connection between link 48 and lever 43 may be varied so as to vary the extent to which the air valve is open for a given opening of the gas valve.

Preferably each of, the valve devices 13 and 15 are provided with means for indicating the extent to which the valves are open.

Arranged on flange 65 of bonnet 28 is a scale plate 66 provided with graduations 67 in radial arrangement. The lever 43, or 45 as the case may be, is extended beyond the valve spindle to provide a pointer 68 adapted to move over the scale, the graduations of which are read on the edge 69 of the pointer. The levers 43, 45 are preferably formed with stop lugs 70 adapted to bear against stop lugs 71, 71 formed on the cap pieces 33. 7

Operation: The connection between link 48 and the operating lever of the air valve is made in accordance with the character and quality of the gas used as a fuel. With ordinary producer gas the volume of air should exceed that of gas. The adjusting device which engages lever 43 will therefore be set so that its edge 72 will be between the graduation 1 and the end of the scale toward the valve spindle. When the furnace is operated the valves 13 and 15 are opened by means of handle 46 on the gas-valve lever 45.

- With the regulating device properly adjusted the ratio of air to gas will remain constant for all positions of the gas valve. To change this ratio it is only necessary to .loosen nuts 51, 57 and change the point of operation ofthe furnace will be substantially uniform under all conditions.

I claim:

1. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air supply pipes,

valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passage of gas and air respectively, valves to vary the effective size of said orifices, spindles for said valves which extend outside of the casings, levers on said spindles, a link pivoted at a fixed point to one of said levers, the other lever being provided with graduations which represent ratios of air to gas, and means for pivoting the other end of said link at different points to the graduated lever. whereby minute variations may be obtained in the proportions of gas and air passing through said orifices.

2. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passage of gas and air respectively, revoluble valves to vary the effective size of said orifices. spindles for said valves which extend outside of the (:as- 130 supply pipes.

' ings, levers on said spindles, a link pivoted at a fixed point to one of said levers, the other lever being provided with graduations which represent ratios of air to gas, and a pair of clamping devices pivoted to each other, one adapted to engage the graduated lever and the other said link.

3. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air supply pipes, valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passage of gas and air respectively, revoluble valves to vary the effective size of said orifices, spindles for said valves which extend outside of the easings, levers on said spindles, a link pivoted at a fixed point to one of said levers, the other lever being provided with graduations which represent ratios of air to gas, means for pivoting the other end of said link at different points to the graduated lever, one of said valve spindles being provided with a pointer, and a scale over which said pointer moves having graduations indicating the extent to which the valve is opened.

4. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air supply pipes, valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passage of gas and air respectively, revoluble valves to vary the effective size of said orifices, spindles for said valveswhich extend outside of the casings," levers on said spindles, a link pivoted at a fixed point to one of said levers, the other lever being provided with graduations which represent ratios of air to gas, a pair of clamping devices pivoted to each other, one adapted to-engage the graduated lever and the other said link, said levers being formed to provide pointers, and scales over which said pointers move provided with graduations to indicate the extent to which said valves are opened.

5. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air supply pipes, valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passing ofgas and a1r respectively and provided with valve seats, revoluble valves to vary the effective size of said orifices, resilient means exerting axial pressure on said valves to hold them in contact with said valve seats, spindles for said valves, levers engaging said spindles, and means for adjustably connecting said levers whereby the valves may be operated simultaneously and the proportions of gas and air varied at will.

6. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air supply pipes adapted to introduce gas and air into the furnace at different points, valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passage of gas and air respectively and provided with valve seats, revoluble valves to vary the effective size of said orifices, spindles for said valves, springs engaging said casings and spindles for exerting an axial pressure on the valves to hold them in engagement with the valve seats, levers engaging said spindles, and means for adjustably connecting said levers whereby the valves may be operated simultaneously and the proportions of gas and air varied at will.

7. In combination with a gas burning furnace having gas and air supply pipes, valve casings associated with said pipes having orifices for the passage of gas and air, respectively, valves to vary the effective size of said orifices, levers connected with said valves for operatin the same, means connecting said levers or operating said valves synchronously, one of said levers having a scale thereon graduated to repre-' sent ratios of air to gas, and means for ad-. justably connecting said connecting means to various points on said graduated lever to vary minutely the proportions of air and gas passing through said orifices.

ARTHUR L. STEVENS. 

